Spherical Panoramas, also known as QTVR (QuickTime Virtual Reality), are panoramic images 360° x 180° that are displayed in 3 dimensions on the computer monitor. The three most known viewing plugins (DevalVR - Flash - Quicktime) are able to offer virtual visits to locations of special interest. Users can look to whichever direction they wish (left-right, top-bottom), of an interior or an exterior place in 3 dimensions, while being able to zoom in for further detailed look.

The development of the viewing plugins, the updated CPU power nowadays, and the broadband connection in the cities, makes the Spherical Panoramas a successful marketing tool. CPU's with old technology and/or low CPU power, may encounter problems as far as the viewing experience is concerned. All the panoramas presented here are of high quality "fullscreen" and they require CPU power and broadband internet access.

The maximun resolution of the spherical panoramic image with the current technical capabilities, reaches around 7000 x 3500 pixels for each sphere, being able to be printed at ~ 60x30 cm @ 300dpi but also to be presented at fullscreen on a computer monitor, giving more information for the area being photographed. Viewer plugins DevalVR-(Windows only) and Flash, offer an option at the bottom right of the picture for viewing the panoramic images on the entire computer screen space (fullscreen), giving the pleasure to feel just like you are there.

The main control of the movement inside the 3D image is performed by using the mouse. By pressing the left mouse button while you move the mouse, you can look to the direction of your choice. With the "Shift" button you can zoom in, while with the "Ctrl" button zoom out is achieved. In the Deval VR & Flash viewers, you can also use the scrolling wheel to zoom in / out.

Below you can see which plugins are available to your system and in which versions


If you have at least one of the above in the required version you don't have to install anything. Nevertheless I insist on installing DevalVR if you are using Windows™ platform. It is the best as it uses hardware acceleration instead of software acceleration, as Flash and Quicktime does, and as a result the navigation / rotation is so smooth that it dramatically increases the experience of a virtual visit. Moreover, it is spyware free and its size is only around 300kb.

Update 18/10/2008: install version 10 of flash player in order to see the panoramas through flash plugin with advanced antialiasing engine and hardware support.

This service can benefit businesses that want to present their facilities and sites of special interest to the broad public . On the other hand virtual visits offer to Internet visitors the opportunity to see places prior to actually visiting them. Examples of some applications are found below:

• Hotels, Casino and other tourist accommondation rooms to present rooms and various areas of services offered, before someone makes a reservation,
  
  
• Theatres and Cinemas in order for the internet user to check a specific area before buying a ticket or in order to observe areas that will never have the chance to see them such as the view from the stage, backstage and even rehearsal performances,
  
  
• Museums, conference and exhibition centers, social events, concerts, aquariums, tv/radio studios ect. in order for someone to inspect an exhibition or to watch in 3D images an event that took place,
  
  
• Commercial spaces, shops, entertainent centers, company offices, car interiors, industries, real estate, yatchs ect. to show off thier luxurious spaces available for all kinds of services.

The audio material -music or sound recordings from the area that the photography took place- while viewing the VR, but also the usage of video playing inside the panorama (only through DevalVR & Flash plugins), helps to create a unique experience.

Virtual visits are quite popular abroad. According to reports, the use of virtual visits are made by 51% of Americans to navigate virtually in various places such as museums, tourist accommodation, schools, historical sites, parks, etc

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/195/report_display.asp
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/143/report_display.asp

but also increased bookings by 46% for a known hotel chain

http://www.bestwestern.com/newsroom/pressreleases_detail.asp?NewsID=517

Broadband internet access has already started to rise in many cities all over Greece, thus it makes the viewing of fullscreen spherical panoaramas easily accessible, as they are on average from 800 kb to 2.5 MB each.